The Happy Home Podcast with Arlene Pellicane

What heroes do your kids look up to?
Boys and girls need better examples than secular YouTube celebrities and pop music stars. They need real heroes that will inspire courage, truth, charity, and perseverance.
The popularity of the Odyssey shows us how we long for moral heroes. The ultimate place to find heroes is in the Bible. How can we help Biblical heroes come alive for boys and girls?
New York Times bestselling author Joshua Cooley joins Arlene to unpack his Heroes of the Bible devotionals. You'll hear why figures like Gideon prove that God works through weakness rather than natural strength, and get practical ideas for building a family Bible-reading rhythm, managing kids' phone use, and helping young athletes root their identity in Christ instead of their sport. Joshua serves at the editor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes magazine. If your kid has ever faced disappointment on a team, Josh also offers a Bible-based way to talk them through it. He also shares the story behind the football memoir he co-authored with Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.
03:56 – Why boys need heroes right now
05:36 – Gideon: hiding in a ditch and becoming a "mighty man of valor"
07:27 – Inside the Heroes of the Bible devotional format
14:06 – Building a family Bible-reading rhythm that actually sticks
20:00 – What worries Josh about kids and phone use today
21:58 – Sports, identity, and glorifying God through athletics
27:27 – Helping a kid handle not making the team

Find out more about Joshua Cooley and his books on his website.
More Resources from Arlene Pellicane:
SUBSCRIBE to Arlene's newsletter "What I'm Learning This Week" and get the checklist, 7 Warning Signs of Screen Overuse.
Check out Arlene's BOOKS including Parents Rising, Screen Kids, and Making Marriage Easier.
Follow Arlene on Instagram and/or Facebook
Watch the podcast on Arlene's YouTube Channel
How did Arlene's kids adapt to not having phones, video games or social media? Watch the free video, Screen Kids: In Their Own Words.
Have a question for Arlene to address on the podcast? Want to invite Arlene to speak to your group? Email speaking@arlenepellicane.com
Not sure about a smartphone for your child? Check out the Gabb Wireless phone for kids and teens (use the promo code ARLENE)

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Why does God allow us to suffer?
Glenna Marshall spent six years chasing a diagnosis and sixteen years living with a painful autoimmune disease before writing Praying in Pain. In this conversation, she explores this question and walks us through what God has taught her through it all. Glenna talks through the four-part pattern of the biblical lament psalms — cry out, remember, resolve — and how they became her lifeline during sleepless nights of suffering. Glenna opens up about the pride that kept her silent from her church, the tension chronic illness can create in a marriage, and what she's learned about complaining honestly to God instead of everyone else. Listen in for a hard-won perspective on healing, hope, and raising children who've watched a parent suffer well.

02:04 – Glenna describes the onset of her mystery illness at age 29
09:30 – The four-part pattern of lament psalms: cry out, remember, resolve
13:37 – "You don't have to stop complaining — you just have to complain differently"
16:12 – The story of snapping at a friend who complained about a sore back
20:16 – Hiding her flare-up from her church during a leaf-raking outreach
22:36 – The three ways Glenna believes God heals
27:03 – Navigating marriage when one spouse is in chronic pain and the other isn't
31:59 – Glenna's closing word to anyone suffering in isolation

Check out Glenna Marshall's blog: https://www.glennamarshall.com/
More Resources from Arlene Pellicane:
SUBSCRIBE to Arlene's newsletter "What I'm Learning This Week" and get the checklist, 7 Warning Signs of Screen Overuse.
Check out Arlene's BOOKS including Parents Rising, Screen Kids, and Making Marriage Easier.
Follow Arlene on Instagram and/or Facebook
Watch the podcast on Arlene's YouTube Channel
How did Arlene's kids adapt to not having phones, video games or social media? Watch the free video, Screen Kids: In Their Own Words.
Have a question for Arlene to address on the podcast? Want to invite Arlene to speak to your group? Email speaking@arlenepellicane.com
Not sure about a smartphone for your child? Check out the Gabb Wireless phone for kids and teens (use the promo code ARLENE)

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What if the secret to raising a confident, faith-filled learner has been sitting in history books all along?
Jennifer Pepito, host of Restoration Home and author of The Inspired Homeschool, joins Arlene to explore how homeschooled figures from history — including Leonardo da Vinci, C.S. Lewis, and Laura Ingalls Wilder — offer a roadmap for joyful, confident learning today. Jennifer shares the warning signs of a homeschool that's lost its spark, why she chose to homeschool her seven children, and practical tools like notebooking that help kids make learning their own. This conversation will help you raise curious kids who are able to think on their own.
This episode isn't just for homeschoolers - it's for any parent who wants to help their children love learning.

02:12 – Warning signs your homeschool needs "fresh fire"
04:18 – Jennifer's home motto: "Earth's crammed with heaven"
11:23 – Encouragement for moms who feel ill-equipped to homeschool
17:15 – Why notebooking is such a powerful learning tool
19:56 – What C.S. Lewis's homeschool/tutoring years can teach us
23:51 – Avoiding the "screen time trap" and the truth about reading timelines
27:41 – Practical advice on screen time: productive vs. consumptive use
31:06 – Laura Ingalls Wilder and the idea that "Ma embraced her work"

Learn more about Jennifer Pepito's book, The Inspired Homeschool.
Get access to other homeschooling resources at https://thepeacefulpress.com/

More Resources from Arlene Pellicane:
SUBSCRIBE to Arlene's newsletter "What I'm Learning This Week" and get the checklist, 7 Warning Signs of Screen Overuse.
Check out Arlene's BOOKS including Parents Rising, Screen Kids, and Making Marriage Easier.
Follow Arlene on Instagram and/or Facebook
Watch the podcast on Arlene's YouTube Channel
How did Arlene's kids adapt to not having phones, video games or social media? Watch the free video, Screen Kids: In Their Own Words.
Have a question for Arlene to address on the podcast? Want to invite Arlene to speak to your group? Email speaking@arlenepellicane.com
Not sure about a smartphone for your child? Check out the Gabb Wireless phone for kids and teens (use the promo code ARLENE)

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

It seems like technology is always bad, especially when it comes to impacting the hearts of kids. But is there a way to use technology to strengthen your family values?
Jess Wolstenholm, VP of Education and Research at Minno, joins Arlene to talk about how parents can use media intentionally during the most formative years of a child's faith. They dig into the "4 to 14 window," why young children need predictable rhythms, and how to have real conversations with teens about what they're watching. Jess also walks through how to evaluate media choices for different ages and why small, consistent habits add up more than parents often realize.
1:32 — What Minno is and how it differs from YouTube Kids and Netflix
4:28 — Why preschoolers and older kids need to be taught differently
5:13 — The 4 to 14 window: how a child's worldview is formed
7:08 — Why predictable rhythms matter so much in early faith formation
9:45 — How to have faith conversations with teens without it feeling like a quiz
12:49 — Why parents should narrate their own screen use in front of their kids
16:53 — Start small: why 10 consistent minutes beats occasional big efforts
23:02 — What to look for (and avoid) when evaluating media for your kids
Minno is the #1 media source for Christian content for kids. Start your free trial and learn more at gominno.com
More Resources from Arlene Pellicane:
SUBSCRIBE to Arlene's newsletter "What I'm Learning This Week" and get the checklist, 7 Warning Signs of Screen Overuse.
Check out Arlene's BOOKS including Parents Rising, Screen Kids, and Making Marriage Easier.
Follow Arlene on Instagram and/or Facebook
Go to Arlene's YouTube Channel
How did Arlene's kids adapt to not having phones, video games or social media? Watch the free video, Screen Kids: In Their Own Words.
Have a question for Arlene to address on the podcast? Want to invite Arlene to speak to your group? Email speaking@arlenepellicane.com
Not sure about a smartphone for your child? Check out the Gabb Wireless phone for kids and teens (use the promo code ARLENE)


Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

When faced with parenting crises, special-needs challenges, fear, and exhaustion, how do you keep moving forward?
Today's guest Sarah Walton is an author, wife, and mom of four whose family has faced chronic illness, a son with severe behavioral episodes, and years of uncertainty without answers. In this conversation, Sarah talks about what it looked like to survive the hardest seasons of motherhood and how her faith carried her through.
She shares how she learned to grieve her expectations, hold hope and acceptance together, and find small joys when everything felt dark. She also offers practical words for how to support a friend who is suffering — and what not to say. Her new book is "Jesus Will Meet You There."
03:14 — Sarah shares what happened when her oldest son spiked a severe fever at 7 weeks old and what followed in the years after
06:11 — The family's Lyme disease diagnosis and how it connected the dots across years of unexplained health struggles
08:19 — How Sarah stayed spiritually afloat — opening her Bible daily, journaling, and talking to God about how awful things felt
10:37 — What to say to the parent who is disappointed and asking why they got a hard child
17:44 — Holding hope and acceptance at the same time: the balance of praying for a miracle while being at peace if it doesn't come
21:05 — How Sarah talks to her kids about suffering and why she lets them see her struggle with hard questions too
26:15 — Why God doesn't always give us the "why" — and why that's actually a gift to our faith
30:02 — Listen, learn, lean in: what to do (and not do) when a friend is going through something hard

Grab a copy of Sarah Walton's book at JesusWillMeetYouThere.com
Sarah Walton's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahpwalton/?hl=en
Substack: https://substack.com/@sarahpwalton

More Resources from Arlene Pellicane:
SUBSCRIBE to Arlene's newsletter "What I'm Learning This Week" and get the checklist, 7 Warning Signs of Screen Overuse.
Check out Arlene's BOOKS including Parents Rising, Screen Kids, and Making Marriage Easier.
Follow Arlene on Instagram and/or Facebook
Watch the podcast on Arlene's YouTube Channel
How did Arlene's kids adapt to not having phones, video games or social media? Watch the free video, Screen Kids: In Their Own Words.
Have a question for Arlene to address on the podcast? Want to invite Arlene to speak to your group? Email speaking@arlenepellicane.com
Not sure about a smartphone for your child? Check out the Gabb Wireless phone for kids and teens (use the promo code ARLENE)


Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.